Effects of stator slot magnetic wedges on the induction motor performances

The paper presents some aspects of magnetic wedges application in electrical machines. The slot opening distorts the waveform of the air-gap flux density and produces high order space harmonics, which causes increased additional losses and torque ripples and reduces both the power factor and efficiency of the machines. FEM-analysis is used in order to investigate some effects of stator slot magnetic wedges on an induction motor performances. The test results and FEM-simulations are very close and prove that the utilization of magnetic wedges is a good solution to improve the performances of the induction motor with open stator slots.